Would You Kick A Gay Person Out Of Your Church?

By Douglas V. Gibbs

On my Constitution Speaker Radio program I encourage listeners to submit questions. When questions are submitted, the ones that have to do with the U.S. Constitution are normally answered on the air. This weekend, in fact, we have two wonderful questions about presidential eligibility and the space program that I will be answering on the air on Saturday and Sunday. However, sometimes the questions have little to do with the Constitution, and more with the assumptions by listeners in regards to my personal positions on the issues.

Perry from New York asks: "Would you kick a gay person out of your church."

Perry assumes that since I am not in favor of changing the definition of marriage from one man and one woman to accommodate those that wish to hijack the institution of marriage as a means of justifying their perverted sexual behavior, I must the kind of person that holds vitriol against the gay individuals themselves. The premise of this question stems from the belief that Christians hate gays, or that we believe that because someone is a homosexual they are automatically doomed to Hell. . . in which case both assumptions are false.

There is only one unforgivable sin, and that is the rejection of Jesus Christ. Acceptance of Christ includes all He has to offer, including forgiveness. A part of giving your life to Jesus is repentance, or a turning away from your sin.

A gay person can accept Christ no different than an adulterer, an alcoholic, a habitual liar, a drug addict, a prostitute, and even a murderer. Christians come from all walks of life, all cultures, and all points on the globe. The offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord is available to everyone who is willing to accept His wonderful gift.

Salvation is a Gift of Grace, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9), so even if the gay person refused to turn away from his or her homosexuality, if that person has truly accepted Christ nothing can bar him or her from Heaven. In John 10:28, Christ says of Christians, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand."

Once a person truly accepts Christ, the Holy Spirit goes to work in their lives, and to please God repentance begins to process through the person's life. We are all sinners, and we all fall short of God's Glory (Romans 3:23), and we are all sinners because of original sin (Romans 5:12), which is why God gave us the Gift of Salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16) - for The Father wishes that none shall perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

If an adulterer claimed to accept Christ, but continued to commit adultery, defended his adulterous activities, and brought the person he was committing adultery with to church, he would not be kicked out of church, but concerns over whether or not he had truly accepted Christ would be raised. If his activities disrupted the services, the clergy may even have a talk with him. This seems reasonable, for how can someone claim to be a child of Christ, yet reject turning away from his sin of adultery?

The same would be so with a gay person in church. The person would be welcomed into the family of Christ, but if the person continued to wallow in the sin of homosexuality, and brought their gay lover to church and exhibited a public display of affection towards that person, there would be doubts that the person truly gave their life to Christ. And if their homosexual activity in church was disruptive to the services, the clergy may even have a talk with them.

Surely, any person will struggle with repentance. We all do. Surely, it will be difficult to turn away from the sinful sexual behavior of homosexuality, because the sin has completely eveloped their life for however long they have submitted to the lifestyle. But if the desire to turn away from the gay lifestyle does not take hold, it very well may be that the person did not accept Christ into their heart, but simply went through the motions for show.

Would I kick someone like that out of church?

No, of course not. I would, however, hold them up in prayer, and try to minister to them as much as possible. Out of my love for those around me, I desire that they all find Christ, and that they all yearn to become followers in the way of the Lord.

We are all sinners, and Christians succumb to the advances of sin on a daily basis. The difference is that Christians realize their sin, work to turn away from their sin, and recognize that through Christ our Lord, we are forgiven of those sins.

Perry, I hope that answers your question.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary